Lifting Theory was first introduced by
John von Neumann in his (1931) pioneering paper (answering a question raised by
Alfréd Haar), followed later by Dorothy Maharam’s (1958) paper, and by A. Ionescu Tulcea and C. Ionescu Tulcea’s (1961) paper. Lifting Theory was motivated to a large extent by its striking applications; for its development up to 1969, see the Ionescu Tulceas' work and the monograph, now a standard reference in the field. Lifting Theory continued to develop after 1969, yielding significant new results and applications.